TALKING POINT
Buy a Cotic and at least you know some of this year’s extra cost will go to ensuring the staff are fairly paid
It’s no secret that prices have risen sharply in recent years. When we did our first Bike of the Year test in 2017, £2.5-£3k got you an alloy-framed enduro bike with a half-decent spec. Now, you have to spend £4-£5k to get a bike of similar quality. And while £10k bikes were once a ridiculous notion, it’s now common to see machines even from mainstream manufacturers going for more than that. But what are the causes of these price hikes? And will they ever end?
What’s going (wr)on(g)
It’s easy to blame corporate greed, but it’s not like the cycling industry is enjoying a boom right now. Local bike shops are closing down all over, many smaller brands are struggling – including Stanton Bikes, saved from administration earlier this year – and even big distributors are having issues, with Derby-based Moore Large – who imported brands including e*thirteen, MicroSHIFT, O’Neal and SR Suntour – closing their doors in March after decades in the trade.
According to UK trade body the Bicycle Association, the fact that a bike can now cost as much as 40 per cent more than in 2019 isn’t due to price gouging or profiteering, but numerous factors, including Brexit, the war in Ukraine, rising raw material costs, soaring fuel prices, high inflation rates and general economic turmoil.
Costs were already rising steadily prior to 2019, not helped by the UK voting to leave the European Union in 2016. Whatever you think of the Brexit vote, it’s undeniable it led to economic uncertainty, leaving new trade deals to be negotiated and customs arrangements to be clarified. This had a big impact both for EU-based brands and UK manufacturers dependent on parts and frames built overseas. Once the country left the EU in January 2020, import costs increased.
Then, just a month or so later, came the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially saw factories close and bike shops and distributors furlow staff, but soon led to a boom in demand for bikes and parts from the locked-down population. This caused severe disruption to supply chains in 2020 and ’21, with product shortages commonplace and agonising delays for those waiting for new kit. Add astronomical shipping costs, and prices continued to rise unabated.
These issues have largely been resolved, though, so why are we continuing to see high prices? It’s down to the current turmoil in the wider economy, with inflation at record levels,
